California Wine Co-op to Install Two Large Solar Power Systems

PowerLight Corporation announced on March 21st that it will install
424 kilowatts of solar power at the Northern California facilities of
the Wine Service Co-Operative, a leading wine storage and distribution
center. The project will consist of a 195-kilowatt system and a
229-kilowatt system installed atop the Wine Co-op's St. Helena and
South Napa facilities in the Napa Valley. The solar arrays, combined
with energy efficiency measures, should provide nearly 100 percent of
the facilities' annual energy needs, substantially reducing operating
costs. The project is scheduled for completion this summer. See the
PowerLight press release.

Meanwhile in Southern California, a long-running dispute over a much
smaller solar power system was finally resolved in early March. Akeena
Solar has been trying to install a solar electric system on its roof
since 2002, but the Town of Los Gatos, where the company is located,
would not approve the system because of concerns about the visual
impacts of some of the solar modules. While a lawsuit was pending,
Akeena worked to update the state's Solar Rights Act so that it would
apply to municipalities, and the updated act was signed into law in
September 2004. With the new law in place, the company applied for a
permit to build an expanded 6-kilowatt system in January, won building
approval in February, built the system, then earned final approval from
the town in early March. See Akeena Solar's press release and its related Web page.